Antiseptic bottle closure



Jan. 9, 1940. P. E. TULLAR fr A. 2,186,888

ANTISBPTIC BOTTLE cLosUnE Filed Aug. 6, 1938 .Pereeiea Jee. 8, 1840 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,188,888 Amsmmc noms cLosUnE Application August 6, 1938, Serial No. 223,390

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a bottle closure and more particularly an antiseptic bottle closure to permit the withdrawal of liquid contents by means of a hypodermic needle and syringe.

In injecting various medicines into the body or veins ot a patient, it is necessary that the liquid injected be in a highly sterilized and antiseptic condition and free from contamination by dirt, dust, sporesor bacteria which are in the atmosphere under normal conditions.

An object of the invention is to maintain the sterility of the contents of a bottle during and subsequent to frequent withdrawals of said substances.

Another object 'of the invention is to provide an effective air-tight bottle closure oi' such construction that only filtered air can enter the bot-4 tle and come in contact with the contents thereof. Another object is to permit at all times an l equilibrium er altered er sterilized air with the contents 'of the bottle.

Another object is to maintain equal atmospheric pressure at all times in the bottle, thus allowing rapid withdrawal of the contents.

u Another object is to provide a closure of such construction that the bottle can be held .in any position without loss of uid or leakage of the contents into the lter thus preventing the contents from being concentrated -by evaporation.

l. Although the novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention will `be more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto, the invention itself may be better understood by referring to the following I, description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which speciiic embodiments thereofhave been set forth for purposes of illustration.

In the accompanying drawing,

0' Fig. 1 shows a bottle having .inserted therein an antiseptic closure embodying my invention, together with a hypodermic syringe and a hollow needle withdrawing some of the contents of the bottle;

l Fig. 2 is a top plan view partly broken away;l Fig. 3 is a sectional View of a bottle with the closure in position;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a modification thereof.

l0 'I'he numeral 5 denotes a bottle. The closure is made of some pliable, resilient material, preferably rubber, and is circular in form to t tightly into the neck of the bottle. It has walls 6, a bottom l and a chamber 8 containing 'some II absorbent material, preferably sterilized cotton.

The top of the chamber is covered by a ilat, thin sheet of material, preferably rubber, 9, having air vents- I0 to permit 'the ingress of air. At the bottom of the closure there is a groove II extending entirely around the closure. This l' groove II has air vents I2. To the bottom of the closure is secured, and preferably formed integral therewith, a depending ila'p or flange I3. The periphery I4 of the flange I3 isA made of extremely thin and pliable rubber or simi- 10 lar material. l

The operation of the device is as follows. Assuming the bottle 'to be completely lled with the liquid which it is desired to use, there is of course no air in the bottle. The iluid is withl5 drawn, as shown in Fig. 1, by inserting'a h ollow hypodermic needle I5 attached to the syringe I6 of usual construction. As the iluid is withdrawn, the space occupied by the amount withdrawn necessarily has to be filled up with'air. 20 The atmospheric air, by passing through the vents Ill, the sterilized absorbent material 8 and the vent holes I2 at thebottom of the closure, passes into the interior I1 of the bottle 5. When a certain amount of fluid has been withdrawn and the bottle placed in an upright or partially upright position, the incoming air will deiiect the lower part Il 'of the ange I3 away from the bottle and allow the air, which has been filtered by coming through the absorbent material, to so enter the bottle, as shown in the modied structure in Fig. 4. When the bottle is inverted or partially inverted, as shown in Fig. 1, the fluid will press the member I4 closely against the side of the' bottle and prevent the contents of the bottle from going into the absorbent material. It will thus be seen that the air in the bottle is at all times in a sterile condition.

It will be noted from Figs. 3 and 4 that the walls 6 of the structure extend upwardly, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, and are then bent over the lip of the bottle I8 to form a shoulder I9. IWhile the air vent in the upper portion of the structure 6, shown at I0, is in registry with the upper part of the closure, it will be 5 understood that these vents Ill, as shown in Fig.

4, may be placed anywhere in the top of the structure for conveniencein manufacturing.

The closure is extremely simple and can be placed in the bottle by any unskilled person and can be made to lit bottles of any required size. The bottle can be held in any position Without the use of a long needle to reach the bottom thereof and all the contents of the bottle can be conveniently removed by using the needle. If

there is any alcohol or other disinfectant solution used to rinse the needle and syringe, it does not get into the contents of the bottle because the needle is thoroughly cleansed as it passes through the absorbent cotton.

We claim:

l. An antiseptic bottle closure comprising a stopper made of soft, pliable, impervious material, said stopper having a chamber lled with absorbent sterilized material,v and top and bottom walls above and below said chamber respectively adapted to be punctured by a syringe or the like to permit withdrawal of the contents of the bottle, said stopper having air vents positioned to permit passage of air into said bottle through said absorbent material as the contents of said bottle is removed and means associated with said stopper to prevent escape of liquid into said absorbent material through said air vents when the bottle is held in inverted position.

2. An antiseptic bottle closure comprising a stopper made of soft, pliable, impervious material, said stopper having a chamber filled with absorbent sterilized material, and top and bottom walls above and below said chamber respectively adapted to be punctured by a syringe or the like to permit withdrawal of the contents .through said air vents when the bottle is inverted.

3. An antiseptic bottle closure comprising a stopper made of soft, pliable, impervious material, said stopper having a chamber lled with absorbent sterilized material, and top and bottom walls above and below said chamber respectively adapted to be punctured by a syringe or the like to permit withdrawal of the contents of the bottle, a depending skirt formed on said stopper in a position to engage the inner surface of the bottle, air vents arranged in said stopper to permit passage of air through said absorbent sterilized material and around the outer surface of said skirt into the bottle, said skirt being adapted to close said air vents and prevent reverse passage of liquid into said absorbent material when the bottle is inverted.

PAUL E. TULLAR. ROBERT C. PAGE. 

